Saturday, June 30, 2007

I'll never forget how surprised I was when my four year old son recited the slogan of a popular laundry detergent verbatim...especially since we are a family that watches very little TV! It was an "ah-hah" moment-- I realized just how absorbent a kid's mind is when it comes to media.

Now my son is a teenager and he's grown up to be a very media saavy kid--questioning what the real story is behind advertising, research studies, even documentaries.

If you have a toddler, you can add "media literacy" to the list of required learning along with letters, numbers and colors. Why? Kids are bombarded with advertising for fast food and sweets, not to mention subliminal brand advertising that can easily turn your toddler into a little consumer.

The deeper problem with too much media, is it takes time away from other quality activities like playing outside, reading and other imaginative play. If kids are on a constant diet of screen time, it gives their brains little chance to explore their own imagination. And we know that too much time in front of the screen also contributes to childhood obesity.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has guidelines for TV watching that you might want to know:

Kids under 2: No screen time, including educational videos

Kids over 2: 2 hour limit of all screen time

No TV in the bedroom

If you are a mom who wears "lots of hats" (and who doesn't?) you've probably popped a video or two in to keep your toddler busy so you could get something done. That's fine--just try to limit the time. Another idea is to use music as a calming or motivating distraction. A little slow jazz or classical music can "soothe the savage beast"; story time on tape allows your child to expand his mind while building with blocks, for example. If it's a rainy day outside, and you'd like your child to be more active, you can try a video that encourages dancing or other active play like:

Sesame Street Elmocize

Sesame Street Songs-Dance Along

Little Kicks Workout

Hip Hop Animal Rock

Yoga Kids ABC's.

How Can You Teach Media Literacy?Media literacy is all about teaching kids to recognize, analyze, and evaluate what they see on TV and in other media. How did we get our commercial memorizing kid to be media savvy? We tried to teach him that the purpose of advertising--to get you to buy something--whether you needed it or not. It's amazing how easily kids can learn these concepts. For a little help, there are some great resources on the Internet:

If you have a new baby about to leap into the world of eating solids, it's most likely you're considering rice cereal as your baby's first food. It's the tried and true first food for a few reasons--

it's easy to mix to the just the right texture for a new eater

it's bland

it's not a highly allergenic food

it's fortified with iron

But there are a few other foods that would serve just as well as a first food--and sometimes may even be a better choice, especially for exclusively breastfed infants. Exclusively breastfed 7- month old infants do not meet their needs for iron or zinc from breast milk alone.

Other "first foods" to consider? Beef and Lamb. They are high in iron and zinc and pretty well accepted (especially if you follow a recipe from Baby Bites). In an article by Nancy Krebs MD in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, meats are recommended as a complementary first food by breastfed infants. (J. Nutr. 137:511S-517S, February 2007)

When trying any first food for your baby, remember that the food is really not "solid" at all--but more like a thick liquid. And don't be discouraged if your baby spits out his tongue for his first bite of food--it's completely normal. If he continues not enjoying his first meal of solids, don't push it. Just wait a week or two and try again.

Bridget Swinney, Mom, Registered Dietitian and Baby Bites Blogger

You can buy all my books at: www.healthyfoodzone.com

Welcome to the World of Baby Bites

The Book that Has it All for Feeding Babies and Toddlers

Hello and Welcome to Baby Bites!

Feeding babies is so important, I thought the subject needed it's own blog spot. Here you'll find tips and tricks about feeding your baby and toddler--and info about other nutrition topics too. And because feeding and parenting are closely intertwined, you'll find some parenting tips as well.

There will be info from my book, Baby Bites, as well as from my other two books, Eating Expectantly and Healthy Food for Healthy Kids, little tips from me, and hopefully other moms and dads will chime in, too. I also like to recommend products--those that meet my criteria as a mom and registered dietitian.